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I LIBRARY OF CONdRKSS. ! 









UNITED STATES OK AMERICA. || 

S 



THOUGHTS 



ON THE 



SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, 



TAKEN FROM 



SEVERAL PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



IN THE 



OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT 



BY JAMES GRIEVE, 



AMESBURY, MASS 



AMESBURY: 

CURRIER £ GERRISH, PRINTERS. 

1852. 



THOUG HTS 




SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST, 



TAKEN FROM SEVERAL PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE 



IN THE 

OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT, 

BY 

JAMES GRIEVE. 

AMESBURY MILLS, 
Mass. 




AMESBURY: 

CURRIER & GERRISH, Printers. 

1852, 



4 



TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. 

13fch Lina from the foot of Iatrsdastioa pa^ r33,d,"audalt thost 
th.%b hwa dbl ia bi3 filth of G)l in OirUb, will r'133 aal raija with 
Him oa3 thousand years, prophat3 and apostlas, aai all tho33 vrho 
have bslievad thsir doatrina. — 2al. Peter, 3rd and 8th. 

Pag3 8fch, sixth lias from botfca.ii read 35 dav3 for ninety. 

Pago 9th, taifch tins from top rail 2301 for 2000. 

Page 9th, 23th Una from bottom r3ad 1930 instead of 1900. 

Paga 11th, 22ai Una from top, Chapter 11 hi3t3»i of 6. 

Page 11, llfch line from bottom rail mile?, instead of female*. 

Page 20, 3rd line from top read righteou3 and not religou9. 

Pa^o 20, 18th lias from bottom read, mankind, and not ail man. 



Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year eighteen 

hundred and fifty-two, by Jam33 Grieve, in the Clerk's office of 

ib* District Court, in the District of Massachusetts. 



TO THE READER. 

The calculation of the city of the New Jerusalem is not intended for a plan, 
but only to show the extent of the city. 

The reason that a different color is given to stones of the foundation of the 
New Jerusalem, is to show that the Apostles, when preaching the doctrine of 
the Lord Jesus Christ to mankind, suited themselves to circumstances. For 
Paul was a Jew to the Jews, and a Gentile to the Gentiles. They were all 
things to all men, that they might save some. Still they followed the path of 
purity and holiness, and this makes them precious stones, and fit for men to 
build their faith upon. That all men. may become living stones in the new 
Jerusalem is the earnest prayer of the Autho<- 



INTRODUCTION. 

When God created the world, he did create it in. six days, and rested on the 
seventh. This is what God wants us to do. He wants us to labor six days, 
and rest on the seventh, after his example. He wants us to rest on the seventh 
for two reasons ; the first reason is that we may refresh and recruit our bodies 
from the labors of the former six' days ; the second reason is, that like him, 
we may set it apart for a holy day to ourselves and to Him, not forgeting to as- 
semble ourselves together, to worship and glorify his name for the cattle on a 
thousand hills, for every green herb that this world produceth, for all the fishes 
of the sea, because he has made man Lord of them all. Man is the noblest 
of His works, and man ought to give Him the highest strain of glory. God 
made man after his own image, and therefore He wants us to imitate Him in 
every thing, in justice, in mercy, in holiness, and in truth. 

When God created the heavens and the earth, he created them in six days, 
and when he was pleased to do so. He was also pleased to divide them into 
three parts. The first of those parts began on the first of the creation, which 
is Monday, and ended on Tuesday, when God called Abraham to go out from 
his people, to a land that he should give him and his children for an inheri- 
tance. Wednesday begun, when God called Abraham, and Thursday ended, 
when Christ made his appearance on the earth. Friday began when Christ 
made his appearance on earth, and Saturday is not ended yet, (1842.) If you 
want to know the exact time, in which we" live, I will tell you, it is 12 min- 
utes and one half past eight o'clock on Saturday night; three hours and forty 
seven and one half minutes more of the creation week, and then comes the 
Sabbath, or, which is the same thing, one hundred and fifty-eight years from 
this year, and then comes the great Sabbath, or millennium. This is accord- 
ing to the common account; but according to the exact birth of Christ, it will 
be one hundred and fifty four years from this very year, when Christ will come 
the second time to reign with his people on the earth ; and all those that have 
died in the faith of God in Christ will rise and reign with him one thousand 
years, prophets and apostles, and all those who have believed their doctrine. 
Peter, 2: 3. 8. — But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day 
is with, the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years, as one day. Now 
by this, we see that every day of the creation week stands as a direct emblem 
of an earnest of one thousand years of the great week of this world's exis- 
tence ; seven thousand years in all ; two thousand without law, two thousand 
under the law, two thousand under the gospel, and one thousand of a continual 
sabbath ; this is the great sabbath when Christ is to reign with his people on 
earth. Revelations xx: 4. — This is the time that the Lion and the Lamb are 
to feed together, and a little child shall lead them, perfect peace over all the 
earth, and the place of Christ's church shall be the promised land, promised 
to Abraham and his seed ac."ordim? to the faith, the curse being removed, and 
perfection restored. 



DANIEL'S VISION. 

CHAPTER VIII : IX.v. 
Here is a little horn, that waxed exceeding great towards the south and east 
and pleasant land or promised land, and he waxed great even to the true wor- 
shippers or host, and cast down some of the stars or principal leaders of the 
true worshippers to the ground (Revelations xii : 4.) a third part of the s*ars to 
the ground, that is, killed them, yea, he magnified himself to the Prince of the 
host, that is, Christ. John in the Revelations, says, that he called himself 
above all that is called God, and blasphemed the name of God and all that is 
in heaven, (Daniel viii : 2. ) and took away the daily sacrifice, or daily worship, 
for they are the same in spirit and in truth, and the place of his sanctuary was 
cast down, that is, the holy land or land of promise to Abraham and his seed 
according to the faith, (12th. verse) and an host was given him against the dai- 
ly sacrifice, (John in the Revelations) and power was given unto him, (Daniel 
12th. verse) a transgressive power to cast down the truth to the ground, and to 
practice and prosper in trampling the truth to the ground. Daniel viii : 13. — 
Here are two saints talking, and Daniel heard them, one asking the other, how 
long it would be from the taking away of the daily sacrifice or true worship, 
to the giving of both host and sanctuary to be trodden under foot. And he 
said unto me, turning himself to Daniel, unto two thousand and three hundred 
days, or years, a day for a year, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Now 
when is any thing cleanssd 1 It must be when it is perfectly free from all spot, 
nothing but perfect purity, and then.it is cleansed. When God- made. the 
.heavens. and the earth, and all that is in them, he looked upon them, and pro- 
nounced them all very good, that is, perfectly clean. But man fell from his 
clean estate, this holy, this happj estate. Sin defiled him, and God defiled the 
earth on that account. Now when are they to be cleansed! They have not 
been cleaned yet ] sin is reigning, and the curse has not beenremoved. Dan- 
iel tells us, when the above mentioned power takes away the daily sacrifice, 
or, which is the same, thing, the daily worship, that is, not allowing Christ's 
people, by his persecution, to worship, but killeth and scattereth them, as it 
were, into the wilderness, then two thousand and three hundred days shall the 



sanctuary be cleansed. Now this vision brings us down to the very time when 
Christ gives up the kingdom to the father, for in Daniel, chapter viii : verse 17, 
he says, Understand, son of man, for at the time of the end shall be the vis- 
ion, that is, the vision or the time of the vision shall end. Now it is well known 
that the first beast, spoken of in the Revelations, that arose upon the power of 
the red dragon, seven hundred years from Christ's birth, destroyed, persecuted 
and killed the true worshippers, driving them, as it were, into the wilderness. 
Add 2300 years, the time of the vision, to 700 years, the time from the birth 
of Christ to the beginning of the vision, and you have 3000 years. Now this 
corresponds with the Revelations, 2000 years under Christ's gospel, and 1000 
years that Christ is to reign with his people on the earth, and then Christ gives 
up the kingdom to God, the end of the vision. Then, the Father will be all 
in all, and Christ's redeeming work will be finished, and God will send down 
from heaven the New Jerusalem, for a habitation for all those that have been 
pleased to accept of Christ's redeeming love. Then the sanctuary, the earth, 
will be cleansed by fire. This is the time when the elements will melt with 
fervent heart, when the earth and the works that are therein will be burnt up, 
and the new heavens and the new earth will appear with the new Jerusalem, 
for a continued and glorious habitation for Christ and them that are his redeem- 
ed ones. 



DANIEL, CHAPTER XI. 



Here is a great king or power, that has exalted himself above every thing 
that is called God, (verse 45) yet he shall come to his end and none shall help 
him. (Chapter xii.) Here is Michael standing up for the children of Daniel's 
people. Who are the children of Daniel's peopled The true worshippers of 
God in Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile. This is the inbringing 
of the Jews with the fulness of the Gentiles to the promised land, when Christ 
shall come the second time ; for it is not the gathering of the rebellious or dis- 
believing Jews to the land of promise, as many vainly believe, but the gath- 
ering of the seed of Abraham according to the faith, to whom with his chil- 
dren the promise was given. At the resurrection, he will gather them from 
all parts of the earth, raising them from their graves to join him in his kingdom, 
and he will reign over them one thousand years ; then shall Christ give up the 
kingdom to God the Father, perfectly pure, holy and happy as Adam and Eve, 
were, when God put them into the garden of Eden; for Christ is the purifier 
of all those that are willing to come unto him in the way that he has prescribed, 
for nothing can enter the new Jerusalem but purity. Then that is a state of 
glory to God the Father or Maker, and JesUs Christ the Redeemer for ever and 
ever. 



I 



So much for the children of Daniel's people. He goes on to tell us in the 
first verse of the 12th chapter, that there will be time of trouble, such as never 
was since there was a nation. Even to that same time; and at that time, thy 
people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book of 
life. Now this distress, from which Daniel's people are to be delivered, is the 
seven vials of God"s wrath, that are to be poured out upon the wicked before 
the second coming of Christ, that they may no longer be kept in bondage. The 
deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt was by the ten plagues; so 
the children of Daniel's people will be delivered by trie seven vials of God's 
wra-thr, but the distress will be greater. See Rev. chapter xvi., and Daniel 
chap, xii., verse 2. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some. to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt, Here the angel Gabriel informed Daniel, that the. righteous would rise 
first, but he did not say how long before the rising of the wicked. Now the 
same angel, Gabriel, was sent by Jesus Christ to John, telling him to write the 
Revelations, and John saw the dead in Christ rise one thousand years before 
the wicked. Gabriel goes with the messages, and Michael stands for the right- 
eous, for heand his angels fought against the Devil and cast him down. See 
Rev. chap, xii., and Daniel, chap. xii. verse 3. And they that be wise shall 
shine, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. 
In verse 4, Daniel is told that many shall run to and fro, preaching their own 
doctrine in knowledge and subtlety, deceiving many. Verse 5. Daniel sees 
other two angels, one on this side, and one on that side of the river's bank. — 
Verse 6. Here, the question is asked, How long will it be to the end of those 
wonders?- Verse 7. Here is a solemn oath, made by one who cannot swear 
falsely, holding up both hands to heaven, and to him who liveth forever and 
evpr, that it should be for a time, times and an half, 1260 years, when he, the 
wicked power in his time, shall scatter, persecute and drive into. the wilderness 
the holy people or true worshippers of God in Jesus Christ. In verse 8th, 
Daniel enquires very particularly about the end of these things. In verse 9th 
the angel tells Daniel, that these things shall surely come to pass in the time 
appointed, for it is closed and sealed and shall be. Verse 10. Many shall be 
tried in the above time, (1260 years) by the wicked persecution, and come forth 
purified and made white ; but the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the 
wicked shall understand this prophecy, but the wise shall understand. The 
wise understand the ways of God but the wicked do not. Verse xi. And from, 
the taking away of the daily sacrifice or daily worship, and the abomination 
that maketh desolate, set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety 
days. Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and 
ninety days. The thousand two hundred and ninety days or years, are, first 
thirty years of persecution that were before or preparatory to the setting up of 
the abomination, that maketh desolate, and the abominable time is. 1260 years, 
making 1290 years. The angel tells Daniel that a man is blessed, that waiteth 
and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days or years, 
that is, forty-five years added to the 1290 years, makes 1335, but this fifth day 



9 

QMghl not to be counted into the number, for it says cometh to it-, that is -to see 
the 1334 years fully out, for the fifth year is the blessed year; that is, the first 
year of the Sabbath that Christ is to reign with his people on the earth. 

So the angel told Daniel to go his way, that is to his grave, and rest, for he 
Would rise and stand in his lot at the end of the days. The land of Canaan was 
divided to the Israelites by lot, and will be agaio, for Daniel is to stand in his 
lot, after he is raised from his grave, by the power of Christ when he cometh 
Co his kingdom. If we add the number of the beast's name, which is six 
hundred three score and six, to 1334, it makes 2000 years from the birth of 
Christ, and, as above, the 35 years makes 2000 years from his birth to his sec- 
end coming* 



X description of Christ's birth given by John in Revelations, chapter XII. 
*ftd XIII. and the persecution that was follow the Church for 1900 years. 

Here is a child born under persecution, — 'the Saviour, who is to rule all na- 
tions with a rod of iron, and is caught up to God and his throne. This is thai 
ascension of Christ into the Holy of Holies to make continual intercession for 
us. 

This was the greatest good that ever appeared to men on earth, and it was 
in the 34th year afier his birth. Now the greatest evil that ever appeared to 
men was the devil, cast down to the earth among men 666 years after Christ 
entered into the Holy of Holies. Now John in the Revelations, chapter XII 
and XIIL is drawing the contrast between the greatest evil and the greatest 
good. From this good John takes the beginning of his 666 years to the begin- 
ning of the greatest evil, which took place 700 years after ihe birth of Christ; 
when the devil was cast down to earth among men and received power to con- 
tinue 1260 years. 

Now the red dragon that stood before the woman that was ready to be deliv- 
•fered of a man-child, to destroy the child as soon as it was born, persecuted the 
woman and her seed, that is, Christ and his Church, or the true worshippers of 
Ood in Christ, scattering and driving them into the wilderness, and when the- 
dragon arose to the height of his wrath and fiery indignation against the Church, 
and acted like a serpent, and cast water, that is, legions of wicked men, like 
a flood after the Church, but God protected the Church in the wilderness for 
a time, times, and half a time. A time is one year, and times two years, and 
half a time is six months. Three years and six months are forty-two months 
in all ; multiply forty-two months by thirty days to the month, and you have 
1260. Chapter XIII : a beast ariseth out of the sea of the wicked, with all the 
dragon's power and blasphemy added thereto; one of his heads wounded and 
healed; the Reformation wounded and healed it again, by worshipping God in 
'* " * " ' ^ ww "— *' not in Cod's way, but still it is a wound to him because it is not 



I 



10 

in his way. Verse 4th: Here is the red dragon and the beast in company to 
destroy the church; verse 5th : and to persecute, blaspheme, and to continue 
forty-and-two months, as above, 1260 years. Verse 11 : a second beast Coming 
out of the earth with -the power of the dragon and first beast, and makes the 
people worship the image of the first beast. The red dragon is persecution ; 
the two beasts are persecution and blasphemy together, that is,'the man of sin, 
or one wicked power, taking their rise in the year 666 after Jesus Christ entered 
into the Holy of Holies, as our Great High Priest, that is, in heaven, making 
continual intercession for us, as in chapter 12th and verse 5th, and that was in 
the 34th year after his birth, and 666 years added, make 700 years after his 
birth the beast began his blasphemy, and is to continue 1260 years, which, ad* 
ded to 700, make 1960 years after Christ's birth the beast's time is up. Between 
the year 1960 and 2000, there will be a time of trouble, such as there never 
#vas since there was a nation. This is the time that Christ is to rale all nations 
with a rod of iron; it is the pouring out of the seven vials of God?s wrath upon 
the Babylonish iniquity, that began at the tower of Babel's founding, and has 
continued down through all ages of man ever since. See the tenth chapter of 
Genesis, which gives an account of Nimrod the mighty hunter, after his own 
inventions, and built a tower, the tower of Babel, to save themselves from be* 
ing destroyed by another flood, What presumption ! after God had told them 
the earth should not be. destroyed any more by water for man's sake. This 
was trying to save themselves, and not trusting in' their maker. Self-righte- 
ousness is the ruin of thousands ; it is a Babel, or confusion. The self-righteous 
killed all the prophets and apostles, and Jesus Christ himself, and is killing thou- 
sands at this day. But this self-righteousness must be destroyed ; this.Babylonish 
inqiuity must be brought down. Jesus Christ, by his servant John, in the Reve* 
lation, chapter 18, tells us that this monopolizing for worldly gain is the cause 
of war and invasion of one nation by another, the monopolizing merchandize 
of gold and silver and precious stones, and of pearls and fine linen, and purple, 
and silk, and scarlet, and all thyne wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and 
all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marhl© ? 
and cinnamon, and odors 3 .and ointment, and frankincense, and wine, ?md oil ? 
and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and 
slaves and souls of men, will be destroyed in one hour, that is, forty years of 
the great week of the world's existence. This destruction will be by the means 
of the seven vials of God's wrath, to break down the war power of the earth, 
to prepare the way for Christ's second coming, as did the ten plagues of Egypt 
to let the children of Israel go in peace to their own land. In like manner will 
the seven vials of God's wrath, pouring out upon the nations of the earth, pre- 
pare the way for Christ's second coming, and all the Israel of God will be raised 
from their graves and will reign with Christ their king one thousand years id 
the promised land, promised to Abraham and his seed according to the faith. 
The curse will be removed, the atmosphere purified, and perfection restored ; 
the redeemed will be as Adam and Eve before the fall, perfect men and womea. 



11 

Observe that the seven vials of God's wrath will break down the war power 
of all nations, convert the Jews, dry up the river Euphrates, that the way of the 
kings of east might be prepared ; that is, the iniquity which began at the build- 
ing of the tower of Babel by Nimrod, and has corrupted all the earth, will be 
destroyed, and every true worshipper will seek his way to the promised land, 
and none will stop them, and they will cany the riches of the nations with 
them, and will build the city and temple of Jerusalem, Jew and Gentiles, that 
is, all the true worshippers, and at the end of the two thousand years, or at the 
beginning of two thousand and one, Jesus Christ will come and take possession 
of the kingdom, and all true worshippers who have died in favor with God and 
Christ will be raised from their graves and will reign with him one thousand 
years. Abraham will have a place of high trust, David will be a great prince, 
Daniel will rise and stand in his lot, the prophets, the door-posts, the apostles, 
the foundation, and Jesus Christ, the head and corner-stone of the temple, and 
Adam and Eve, the ancient of days, will come near before him, and all the re- 
deemed will shout for joy at the sight of Christ their king, so that the very earth 
will ring again, and his entrance to the temple will be by the east, with one 
hundred and forty-four thousand accompanying him. This is the very same 
that rose out of their graves at the resurrection and went into heaven with him. 
The children of Israel brought the first ripe sheaf of their harvest and waved 
it before the Lord, so that the above one hundred and forty-four thousand are 
the first ripe fruits of the fast-coming harvest. See Revelations, chapter 6, 
from the first to the sixth verse. 



ON BAPTISM. 
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, 
male and female created he them. Here is one man and the male and female 
nature in him ; the woman being taken out of the man, is bone of his bone, 
and flesh of his flesh, and nature of his nature, so that the male and female 
make but one man, so that all the females on the face of the earth are repre- 
sented in the males, for if all the females were to worship God in the way that 
God wants them to worship him, the females would do their part. This is what 
Paul meant by saying that the man is the head of the woman, and the head of 
the man is Christ, making one body, if corresponding with him. For in Abra- 
ham^ covenant of circumcision the male only was circumcised. If the males 
keep the covenant in faith, like faithful Abraham, the females will do their part 
of the worship, for the woman is the glory of the man and man is the glory of 
God. That day that God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision, he rat- 
ified it on his part by taking hold of it for himself and all his household in faith. 
Now Abraham had to be circumcised when old, and others of his household, 
as well as him, because they were old already. After that, every male child 



12 

that was bora in his house was to be circumcised on the eighth aay after hi» 
birth, and those that kept the faith did so, and that child that was not circum- 
cised was cut off from his people because he had broken God's covenant, (se© 
Genesis chap, xvii, verse 14) or by neglect of his parents the covenant was brok- 
en. Now Abraham was a faithfnl son of God, and Jesus Christ was his only 
son, or most particular son. Will any reasonable person think that God would 
give a covenant to one of his sons and destroy it in another, his most particular 
son! God forbid. All that Christ did to this covenant was when he came in 
the flesh, he altered the token of the covenant from a bloody to a washing. 
The reason he did so was because he made a sacrifice of himself once for all- 
This ended the bloody, and instituted a washing in its place ; and it is the duty 
of every parent to have his children washed in the name of ihe Lord Jesus 
Christ when they are eight clays old, as it was for Abraham's children to be cir- 
cumcised on the eighth day after their birth. So it is in John's baptism as in 
Abraham's covenant, if they had not been baptized when they were old they 
could not have been baptized at all ; so all believing parents, who are in the 
true faith, did and will continue to observe the covenant for themselves and 
their children. For Paul tells us, that if you be the children of Abraham ac- 
cording to the faith, then you are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ 
according to the promise given to Abraham. So the doctrine given to Abraham 
and preached by Christ is the same in spirit and truth, for he is the same God, 
and his covenant stand the same to all mankind at whatever period of this 
world r s existence they live in ; for Abraham looked for a city that hath founda- 
tions, whose builder and maker is God. This city is to be sent down from God, 
out of heaven, called by John in the Revelations, the New Jerusalem. This 
is to be on the beginning of the eighth day, or at the time when Christ gives up 
the kingdom to the Father, of which Abraham's covenant is an emblem, or 
token of the covenant, and baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ on 
the eighth day is a washing or purifying, showing to us that Christ's church 
is to be made perfectly pure on the eighth day, that is six working days, and 
then a Sabbath, when Christ will give up the perfect kingdom to God the Fa- 
ther, and Jesus Christ will be a perfect saviour and God the Father is to send 
down the New Jerusalem for a habitation for the Redeemer and the redeemed. 
Then they are perfectly pure on the eighth day, and giving perfect glory to God 
the Father, who will then be all in all. 

Observe that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand 
years as one day: 2nd Peter, chapter 3d, verse 8th. The above shows that 
6,000 years is allowed for work time, and the seventh thousand for rest, the 
days of the week being an emblem of God's goodness to man, in showing him 
the end of tha world from the beginning; also, his revealed will tells us tha 
same things. 



13 

• THE WITCH OF ENDOR. 
In the loth chapter of 1st Samuel, we have an account of Saul, king of Israel 
being told to go and destroy Amalek, and his people and all that he had, be- 
cause he laid wait for Israel when he came up out of Egypt. So Saul saved 
the best of the cattle and of the sheep to sacrifice unto the Lord. Here is 
worship in disobedience. So the Lord would not have Saul to be king any long^ 
er. When Saul saw that the Lord had departed from him, and Samuel, his coun^ 
sellor, was dead, he sought a witch to briug up Samuel from the grave, to 
tell him what he should do. Here is ignorance and blindness of mind, on 
account of not obeying the Lord, by the mouth of Samuel : for it is well known 
that a wicked person cannot raise the dead from their graves. Here is upsetting 
impudence like all the wicked people. She asked Saul, whom shall I bring 
up unto thee? And he said unto her, Bring me up Samuel. And when she 
saw Samuel, she cried for fear that Saul would kill her, as he had put away all 
witches out of the land ; but she, by Her craft, had escaped his hand. In Eze- 
kiel, chapter 14, verse 7th : For every one of the house of Israel, or of the 
stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth 
up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling block of his iniquity before 
his face, and cometh to a prophet, to enquire of him c&iceming me, I, the 
Lord, will answer him by myself. Now Saul did not come to the witch to en- 
quire of her what to do ; he came to get her to bring up Samuel, the prophet, 
to iell him what to do. And the Lord, according to his promise, brought up 
Samuel. Then Samuel, from the Lord, told him of his own destruction, be- 
cause he had departed from the Lord, and did not kill Agag, and all his sheep 
and oxen; for it appeared he loved the spoil more than the word of the 
Lord. This is the idol or stumbling block of Saul, that he set up in his heart,, 
and it is the idol of silver or gold, or houses or lands set up in the heart that 
will keep thousands from entering into the kingdom of God in Christ at hi& 
second coming. 



OF £jL.iA>j,ioi\, (Jeremiah, Chap. 1, verse 5th.) 
Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou earnest out 
of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet to the nations.' * 
Here the Lord had work to do in the nations, and he formed him, brought him 
up for that purpose. Romans, chap. 8, verse 28th. To them who are called 
according to his purpose. Verse 291b. For whom he did foreknow, he also did 
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that they may teaeh the 
same doctrine that Jesus Christ taught, and that Jesus Christ might be the first- 
born among many brethren, teachers and followers of the same doctrine. Vers© 
30. Moreover whom he did predestinate, and whom ha called, them he alse» 



14 

justified, made just, fit to fulfil the work he had for them to do among mer&. 
And whom he justified, them he also glorified, bestowing upon them a crownt. 
of glory, alluding to the twelve apostles- who are to sit upon twelve thrones, 
judging the twelve tribes of Israel. For those that sit upon thrones, wear- 
crowns. The prophets and apostles and teachers, whom God has set forth from, 
time to time among men, to direct them in the way that they should go, if God 
be for these leaders and those tha/t are led, who can be against them! Who^ 
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect, that he has set over his vineyard ■# 
Jesus Christ, the head of the elect, set apart himself for the salvation of men.. 
The elected, and those that follow them, are the same in spirit and in truth, 



GENESIS,. CHAPTER 1, Verse 26. 

And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness; -audi 
let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the 'air,., 
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every thing that moTeth, 
Chapter IT, verse 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul, 
not a dying soul, for whether we go to happiness or to misery, it is still a living 
soul- Verse 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and 
there he put the man whom he had formed. Verse 9. And out of the ground 
made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for 
food ■ the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge 
of good and evil. And the Lord God put the man into it to dress it and to keep 
it, and to eat the fruit of it freely. But of the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou 
shalt surely die, as it were, dying all their days, also be driven from the sweet 
fellowship and communion of their Maker. In the third chapter, verse 6, we 
are told they did eat. In the 17th verse, the ground is cursed for man's sake, 
with thorns and thistles, and in the sweat of his face, he should eat bread, till 
he go to the dust, from whence he was taken, that is, the grave. Now the man 
was made perfect, holy and happy, and put into a garden of the Lord's own 
planting, completely adapted to his perfect, holy and happy nature, and his wife 
with him in a state of perfect bliss. Now God had given him a free moral will, 
that he might worship his Maker freely, without restraint or constraint, that is a 
a volunteer; for God will have such to worship him, or he will have none at 
all. The man had life and death set before him with a free moral will to choose 
©r reject; and can any blame God, because man disobeyed? No, not at all; 
he had his own choice, but he disobeyed because he wanted.to be more wise, 
that is, to know good and evil. There was no excuse, for the penalty was an- 



15 

&fcxed, death. If any one says, that he did not think, or that he was careles5 | 
%t is thoughtlessness and carelessness, that send thousands to misery at this day. 
He did not keep the word of God in his mind. This is the trouble at this day, 
People will not attend honestly to the word of God, but will attend to the wis- 
dom of this world as Adam did : he wanted to be wise, but not by the word of 
God, for they that seek wisdom from God will have the cvord of God before their 
«yes all the time. So man fell from the blessed estate in which he was created, 
and now he stands, a condemned criminal before his Maker, with no one to take 
his part in heaven or on earth, until mere love said to justice, I will take the 
stroke and bear the punishment of thy justice, and give the rebel an opportunity 
for salvation in Jesus Christ, when it was told them that the seed of the woman 
would bruise the serpent : s head. Here is love unprecedented, that the offended 
and affronted goodness of his Maker should be treated so; and yet love him 
when there was none to save, volunteered to take the care of him, if he would 
walk in his Maker's ways. He did so until Noah's time, and then by rulers 
and prophets. But all would not keep them in their Maker's ways. Man's 
invention being so great, that he wanted to be a god himself, and to take the care 
of himself upon himself. This has always been the ruin of man, trusting to 
himself, and not to the God, that made him. The love of Jesus Christ is still 
the same as ever, for in the end of the days, he came himself, and suffered the 
justice of God, that he might redeem lost mankind. But they said, This is the 
heir; let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours. This was desperate 
work, and is now at this day with the greatest part of mankind, and will con 
tinue to be, until the seven vials of God's wrath take all those things out of the 
way, and prepare the way for Christ's second coming. Then shall all those 
that are true believers in him, be raised from their graves, and live and reign 
with Jesus Christ one thousand years, in the land of Canaan promised to Abra- 
ham, the father of the faithful, and to all the faithful, whether Jew or Genti^ 
for they are all one in Jesus Christ, their head. 



EXCOMMUNICATION. 

.The old world before the flood was cutoff or excommunicated for their wick* 
edness against. God, the Egyptians, for their bondage of Israel and sins against 
God, the Canaanites for their idolatrous worship, the company of Coram, Dathen 
2*id Abiram for their rebellion against God ; the Jews were dispersed, for they 
killed &e prophets. of the Lord, and Jesus Christ himself; such as those that 
entice others from the true worship of the Lord our God, see Deuteronomy^ 
chapter xiii, and chapter xxvii, and downward, such as he that curseth father 
or mother, or smiteth his neighbor secretly, or taketh his father's wife, or taketh 
a reward to slay an innocent person.* also Sodom and Gomorrah for their despite 



16 

©f every thing sacred. Before Christ, they were put to death, that their bad 
example might not lead away others from the true worship of God. 

In the New Testament, we have two examples. In 1st Corinthians, 5th 
chapter, we have an account of one that took his father's wife, and was delivered 
over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. And in 1st Timothy, 1st chapter, 
26th verse ) Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander; whom I have delivered 
unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. The first is a fleshy lust, 
and the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord, but we have no account of 
a blasphemer being saved in the day of the Lord, because blasphemy is ©f the 
spirit. These two are the only examples in the New Testament of excommu^ 
nication or cutting off from the Church of Christ. There are other crime* 
mentioned in 1st Corinthians, 5th chapter, 11th verse, If any man that is called 
a brother, be he a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunk- 
ard, or an extortioner, with such an one, do not to eat at the Lord's table, that 1 
he may be ashamed, but there is no delivery over to Satan for these mentioned 
in the 11th verse. The above are a number of excommunications appointed^ 
by God and his word. But there are other excommunications of a very different 
nature from these. Cain tilled Abel, because his offering was not re- 
spected as was Abel's, and the Lord named him a fugitive and a vagabond, 
and he was driven out from mankind, and marked with a downcast-countenance..- 
The Jews killed the prophets of the Lord, that were sent unto them fop their 
instruction, and when Jesus Chiist came, they said,- this is the heir; let us kill 
him and the inheritance will be ours. They expected he. was- to be king, and 
then they would have the kingdom into their own hands ; and they cast out of 
the synagogue, the man that was born blind, whom Christ caused to see, be-> 
cause he did not speak to please them ; and killed all the Apostles of the Lord,. 
because they believed in the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ, and did rid* 
believe in the doctrine of the Scribes and Pharisees, that is, external worship 
to be seen of men, and to have the praise of men. So it is at the present day, 
there are excommunications or cuttings off by the same disposition ? because 
some do not speak to please those self-made christians, who have neither the 
fear of God, nor regard for man at heart, and pay no regard nor attention to the 
rules laid down in the Scriptures of truth. But Paul tells us what their names 
are, and what they will do. Philippians, 3d chapter, verse 2nd. Beware of 
dogs; beware of evil workers; beware of the concision. Now here are three 
species of them ; the first is dogs. Now it is weil known, that a dog is a biter 
oS, and eats up that which he does bite off. Such are those that care for the 
fleece of the flock, and not for the flock. Isaiah 56th chapter, 10th and 11th 
verses. His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all dumb d/^gg 
they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough ; and they are ^epherds 
that cannot understand, they all look to their own way, every C/ie for his gain 
from his quarter. 

The next are evil workers, those that turn others away from the truth of the 
gospel of Christ, by explaining the Seriptuj«*s to suit their "own way. 2nd Co- 



17 

riiithians, chap, lllh, verse 13th. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, 
transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. The third is concision and 
excision, that is, a cutting off from the Church of Christ, and giving over to 
destruction and death by those wicked men pretending to be religious members 
of Christ's church. Here is a display of them. 2nd Chronicles, 11th chapter, 
14th and 15th verses. For Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from exe- 
cuting the priest's office unto the Lord ; And he ordained him priests for the 
high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. Reve- 
lations, chapter 13, 16th verse. And he caused all both small and great, rich 
and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hands, or in their fore- 
head. Matthew, chapter 15, 14th verse. Let them alone, they be blind lead* 
crs of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 
Hosea, chapter 4, 6th and 9th verses. My people are destroyed for lack of 
knowledge : because ihou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that 
thou shah be no priest to me ; seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, 
T will also forget thy children. And there shall be like people, like priest. 
This is come to pass at this day, (1846) for the priests must preach to please the 
people, or they will not put the bite into their mouth, nor the money into their 
pockets. Micah, chapter 3d, verse 5th. Thus saiih the Lord concerning the 
prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth and cry peace, and 
he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. Verse 
11th: The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for 
hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money ; yet will they lean upon the 
Lord and say, Is not the Lord among us? None evil can come upon us. Ro- 
mans, 16th chapter, 17th and 18th verses: Now I beseech you, brethren, mark 
them that cause divisions and dissensions contrary to the doctrine ye have 
learned, and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus 
Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the 
hearts of the simple. Luke, 12th chapter, 18th verse : and he said, this will I 
do, I will pull down my barns and will build greater, and there will I bestow 
all my fruits and my goods; which those deceivers get from the deceived out 
of a pretence of religion. 2d Thessaloniaus, 2d chapter, 1 1th and 12th verses : 
and for this cause Cod shall send them strong delusions, that they might believe 
a lie. That they all might be damned who believe not the tiulh, but have 
pleasure in unrighteousness. 



18 

LETTER TO A FRIEND UPON THE RETURN OF THE WRITINGS OF 

r have read the writings of that worthy man, John Knox, according to your 
request, and find to be very good what I have read of them, and others of his 
worthy brethren, who suffered the like in body and mind for the cause of Christ. 
Abel died at the hand of his brother, because he was righteous and his brother 
wicked ; this has been the case ever since the world began. Enoch suffered 
in consequence of the sins of those of his day, and he, growing in perfection 
from day to day, was not, for God took him to himself. Noah was sore troubled 
for the sins of his people in his day. Abraham was also troubled with wick- 
edness in his day, and was himself approved of God, and called the father of 
the faithful by God ; and all the prophets suffered on account of the peoples' 
wickedness in body and spirit and death itself. All these were sinners, and 
when Christ carne in the flesh, that had no sin, they made no difference 
but they took his life also, and the lives of all the Apostles; and the 
true worshippers ever since have suffered less or more, John Knox not ex- 
cepted, and Wishert, his friend and colleague, who was burned at the stake 
at St. Andrews in Scotland. I have stood on the spot where he was burned to 
death, with the soles of my feet, and no grass grows on the spot to this day. 
But all the righteous suffer, although it is from nothing but their own sins and 
the wickedness that is to be seen around them. But to return to the Lord Jesus 
Christ and his sufferings, that came to do good to man, his heavenly father 
sending him out of mere love, for his hand works after they sinned and became 
heirs of temporal death and likewise liable to the second death. At the same 
time Jesus Christ volunteered to come and satisfy his fathei's justice, for none 
of the seed of fallen Adam could do this, for there was sin in them, and noth- 
ing but perfection could give satisfaction to justice ; for what sinner could bear 
the temptations of vticked men and devils, and the death of ihe cross, and rise 
a gain from the dead, a perfect saviour for himself and others? None; but 
Jesus Christ did it and rose again the third day, not for himself, but for all thos e 
that put their trust in him. Now observe, here is the love of both father and 
son, living in themselves, perfectly pure, and undefiled by all manner of im- 
perfection. Observe, we have nothing to gffer for our sins against God but a 
mass of corruption. Now if God, the Father, will not accept of Jesus Christ's 
finished righteousness for us, we must be damned. Bnt God is so well pleased 
with Christ's finished righteousness that he has promised, and will not retract, 
to accept of us if we will come to Jesus Christ and accept of his finished right- 
eousness with our whole strength of body and soul and spirit ; and my fervent 
desire to God for all mankind is that they may be saved ; for when Christ comes 
the second time, he will raise r 11 the righteous from their graves, and they will 
reign with him in the land of Canaan one thousand years, and when that time 
shall come to the full, he will give up the kingdom to God the Father, and he 
mil send down the New Jerusalem as a habitation for Christ and the redeemed, \ 
*nd then God will be all in all. Christ's kingdom on earth will be a state of 



19 

perfect bliss, that is, when he comes the second time to raise his followers from 
their graves. But when God sends down the New Jerusalem to be a habitation 
for Christ and his followers, this will be a state of perfect glory. 



THE EXISTENCE OF MAN AND THE EXTENT OF THE NEW JE- 
RUSALEM. 
It will not be denied that God made all things by the word of his power. 
Now if this is believed, why is it that man is so backward in giving him ado" 
ration and glory. He has all power; he made us at the first, and gave us life 
and health, and caused the sea and earth to yield food and clothing for us; and 
cannot he take all these things from us, and send us to the dust, whence he 
caused us to come forth, by his word ? Now man ought to give him all the 
glory with all the slrength of his body and soul and spirit; and when he does 
so he only does what is his duty along with the rest of creation. Praise him, 
the i, sun, moon and stars. Praise him, sea and all that is therein. Praise hira, 
earth, and creeping things, and ail shrubs of the field, and all cattle and all the 
human family, praise him, for he doth excel in glorious majesty, and when he 
made all things he commanded them every one to fulfil their place, and they 
all did so, but man alone was the rebel. He being the noblest of God's works, 
God gave him the gift of a free moral will, that he might worship his Maker 
as a volunteer, and commanded him what to do and what not to do. and an- 
nexed a penalty for disobedience, and that penalty was death, temporal and 
spiritual. Notwithstanding all the warnings that God gave him, to be careful 
and keep himself holy and happy, he yielded to the first temptation, set before 
him by his wife, she being deceived by the subtlety of the serpent. Now the 
serpent was made subtle, the lion was made strong, the grass was made green, 
the fishes were made to live in the water, and cattle were made to live on the 
eaith, and every thing was made to fill its own place for the glory of the ma- 
ker, and no one was to usurp the place of another. Now they all kept their 
own place but man. Man wanted to be as gods, knowing good and evil, and 
did what God warned him not to do. The reason that God warned them of this 
was because he had given them the gift of a free moral will ; the like gift he 
had not given to any of his works but man, he being the noblest of his works ; 
he made him after his own image, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of 
life, and he became a living soul, that is, not to die, not to become extinct, as 
all the other works of creation are. So that if his body die a temporal death, 
and his spirit go to the left hand of Hades ; there to remain until the general 
resurrection, that does not make him extinct, he still lives. This is the differ- 
ence betwixt man and the other works of God, and when God at the general 
judgment raises them to stand before him and receive their sentence, their 



f 



20 

spirits will be brought out of Hades, or the state of the dead, and the body will 
be raised from the grave, and the body and the spirit will be united together 
and go to hell. The religious spirits at Christ's second coming will be raised 
from the right hand of Hades, and their bodies from the graves, and be joined 
together, and reign with Christ in the land of Canaan one thousand years; and 
then Christ the Redeemer will give up the redeemed kingdom to God the Fa- 
ther, and he will send down the New Jerusalem for a habitation for the Re- 
deemer and the redeemed, and then God the Father will be all in all, then 
Christ's redemption work will be finished, for the Father accepts of them the 
same as if they had never sinned, for Christ has satisfied God's justice for 
them, for they have prayed to Christ for him to intercede for them, and he has 
done so, and God the Father, through Christ's intercession, has extended mer- 
cy to their earnest cry. I have been asked if the New Jerusalem would be 
large enough to contain all the righteous. To satisfy this question, I will give 
a statement of it so far as my imperfection will admit. It is called the Holy 
City, the New Jerusalem, that God is to send down from heaven. Revelations, 
21st chapter, verses 10 and 11 : Having the glory of God and her light was 
most precious; and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at 
each gate one of the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel, who are the angels 
of the gates ; for the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel are the door-posts by 
which we and all the human family are to enter into the New Jerusalem, if 
we follow their example. But it may be asked, who are the heads? Any one 
that God in his wisdom sees fit to appoint over this business. At the 14th verse 
John tells us that the walls had twelve foundations and in them the names of 
the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 

The truth of their doctrine from God their Father and Jesus Christ is the 
true foundation that is to make all men happy ; for every true believer in their 
doctrine will be a living stone in that bwilding, Jesus Christ being the chief 
corner stone. At the 15th verse, an angel is sent to measure the city and the 
gates thereof and the wall thereof. At the 16th verse he tells us that the city 
lieth four square and that it measured twelve thousand furlongs. The length? 
height and breadth of it are equal. Now if we consider that eight furlongs 
make one mile, the extent of the city will be fifteen hundred miles; thus it 
appears to me to be exactly 500 miles in length, in breadth and in height, as 
this way of calculation would make it exactly four square. Now if we mul- 
tiply 500 miles by 500 miles, it will make 250,000 square miles for the base- 
ment, and 500 miles high would make a great many mansions. This corres- 
ponds exactly with what Christ says : John, chapter 14, verse 2 : " In my fa" 
ther's house are many mansions ; if it were not so I would have told you." I 
we consider the height of each story or mansion to be eight feet— -as this is 
about what Solomon made in the temple of Jerusalem — there would be, in 500 
miles high, 330,000 mansions in height; and if we consider the length and 
breadth the same as above, the number of rooms altogether would be 35,937,' 
00.0,000,000,000 : or thus ; — thirty-five thousand, nine hundred and thirty-seven 



21 

millions of millions of rooms. This is allowing nothing for streets, rivers and 
partitions. In the 17th verse, he measured the wall thereof and found it to be 
a hundred and forty-and-four cubits, he says, according to the measure of a 
man. that is, the angel. What angel 1 The angel who came by the power of 
Christ after his resurrection, and raised one hundred and forty-and-four thousand 
from their graves, who went into heaven with him. These are the first fruits 
1o God of the fast-coming harvest, and it is living stones with which the walls 
of the New Jerusalem are to be built. Some of the prophets say it is wall of 
fire. This is very easily settled, when we consider that the hearts of all true 
believers burn with love to Christ, and at the same time. God can turn any of 
the elements that he has made, to serve his purpose. In the 18th verse he tells 
us that the wall of the city was built of Jasper, that is. of great purity, and the 
city of pure gold like to clear glass. In the 19th verse he tells us that the foun- 
dation of the city was beautified with all manner of precious stones, that is, the 
Apostles and the purity of the doctrine that they taught to mankind, all them 
lhat believed their testimony, as Abraham was faithful and looked for a city- 
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. When we look to 
God the Father, and Jesus Christ, and the mercy they have shown to fallen 
man, and what Jesus Christ has done to restore man to his original state of holi- 
ness and happiness in which God the Father made him at first, and the great 
•and glorious habitation which is prepared for them, to make them perfectly hap- 
py, when we look at alt these things with the eye of faith, persecution and dis- 
tress and troubles of all kinds are cast far behind. I say it leaves them as a 
thing of nought. In the middle of the 19th verse he says the first foundation 
was jasper, that is, a pure green stone ; the second, sapphire, that is, a pure blue 
stone; the third is a chalcedong, that is, a pure precious stone ; the fourth, an 
■emerald, that is, a pure green stone ; the fifth, a sardonyx, a very precious 
-stone ; the sixth, saxdias, a precious stone ; the seventh, a precious stone of a 
dusky green, with a yellow cast; the eighth, a beryl, a precious stone with a 
greenish cast; the ninth, a topaz, a precious yellow stone; the tenth, a crys- 
tjpharus, a precious stone ; the tenth, a jacinth, that is, a stone resembling a hy- 
acinth in color ; the twelfth, an amethyst, a precious stone of a violet color. 
The above twelve foundations are the twelve Apostles of Christ, each of them 
called by the name of a precious stone, for their hardness and durability, and 
the purity of the doctrine that they taught to mankind ; for that is the founda- 
tion that we have to build upon, for no other foundation can man lay than is 
laid in the above-mentioned Apostles of Jesus Christ, he being their director in 
all things pertaining to this life and that which is to come. So much for the 
foundations of the city that Abraham looked for. Now the heads of the twelve 
tribes of Israel were the seed of Abraham, through Isaac and Jacob; for Jacob 
is first called Israel in the 32d chapter of Genesis and 28th verse. Israel had 
twelve sons, and they are called the heads of the twelve tribes, as in Re vela* 
. tions, 1st chapter and 12th verse, and also in Ezekiel, chapter 48 and verse 31, 
32, 33 and 34. These are the gates of the city, that are in the wall, that lead 



22 

into the city, and every several gate was of one pearl, that is, a precious gem ; 
so all true worshippers of God the Father, through the merits of Jesus Christ, 
are precious in his sight, and will become living stones in that building, Jesua 
Christ himself being the head corner-stone. And the streets of the city were 
like pure gold, that is. perfectly pure white, being refined : for Christ in hi9 
kingdom will sit as a Refiner one thousand years, and at the end of that time 
he will deliver up the refined kingdom to God the Father, and then every on© 
will become a living precious stone in the New Jerusalem, and will continue^ 
time without end, to be the servants of the living and true God. 



In the 16th chapter of Matthew, 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th verses, we are told that 
the Pharisees and Saducees came templing Christ, asking him a proof sign 
from heaven that he was the Christ. The answer that he gave was one that 
brought the true meaning of the question to their own understandings, if they 
had been willing to be instructed in the truth. That is, you have judgment 
enough to know when it will be fair weather aud when it will be foul, and 
that same judgment is able to discern the signs that I give, that I was sent from 
heaven. I heal the sick, make the dumb to speak, the blind to see, the lame 
to walk, and, above all, I raise the dead from their graves ; and can you not dis- 
cern the truth, when you see these things, when you are so good to foretell the 
weather, what kind it is to be? The works of Christ and his doctrine, and the 
works of his prophets and apostles and their doctrine, — which are like Christ's,. 
ror they were all instructed by him — are enough to teach us all the things be- 
longing to our welfare, from the creation of Adam down to the last man that 
will be on the earth, if we attend to the instruction of the above-mentioned, as 
they have laid it down to us, for all the above know as much of the ways of God 
with man as it is good for a created being to know. Daniel, in the 12th chap- 
ter and 10th verse, tells us that the wise, or righteous, shall understand, but 
none of the wicked shall understand. David, in the Psams, asks the question, 
how shall a young man learn his way to purify 1 The answer is direct : if he 
according to the word of God thereto attentive be ; for we must grow step by 
step until we arrive at a perfect man in Christ. The examples of the prophets 
and apostles, and all those that Christ had sent into his vineyard from time to 
time, to labor for the good of all mankind, are sufficient to guide all, who wish, 
to a knowledge of the truth, always letting the word of God stand for itself; 
for if Jesus Christ does not know the truth, then none on earth do know. Solo- 
mon prayed for understanding in the word of God ; he calls it wisdom, which 
is the same thing ; and he received a quick understanding spirit, to know all 
things, and great riches and honor added thereto ; and all the prophets and all 
the apostles and great men whom God has stirred up to instruct men in the way 



23 

that they should go, these men all understood the signs of the times hi which 
they lived, and also foretold future events, for they were all instructed of God. 
Now let us see if we can, by their directions, tell some of the events that are 
to come. The first that I shall mention is, putting down truth and setting up 
falsehood in its place, that is, setting up the abomination that maketh desolate, 
spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Daniel saw the people of the Jews driven 
from their own land for their wickedness, and that same land inhabited by 
Turks, and others of false religion ; for it is by wilful sins against God that des- 
olations are caused; and we may observe at this day a falling away from the 
truth, for any one given to falsehood is held in as much reputation as one who 
speaks the truth. Likewise those different religious sects of men, disagreeing 
among themselves about questions of their own making, and also about the 
word of God, picking out what they think will answer their own way of think- 
ing, and then they will use every means in their power to make men believe 
it is so, thereby causing much division among men, contrary to the word of 
God, for all men are created by the power of God. so all men ought to unite 
in giving God all the glory through Jesus Christ. 

Another sign of the times that men are becoming more and more wicked is, 
some men will go to college to learn to be preachers, then call themselves the 
ministers of Christ, and then think that they have a right to let themselves for 
hire. This is contrary to Christ's own words, for he called them hirelings and 
not the trus shepherds. Christ will prepare for his work those whom he sends 
into his vineyard to labor, and he will put the truth into their mouth. Another 
sign of the times is, none are esteemed, or taken notice of, but those who wear 
gay clothing, or those who are very rich, as John in the Revelations tells us, 
the true Christian being driven into the wilderness. Enough has been said to 
show that mankind in general are growing worse and worse, every generation 
that passes, a^d so it will continue to be until the beast's time is up, of which 
John in the Revelations speaks so plainly, and that will be A. D. 1960 But 
before that time comes, that is, 1953, say the beginning of 1954, '55. '56, and 
the first half of 1957, there will be great signs and wonders and terrific sights 
in the air, and wickedness will abound among men, and in the last half of 
1957 the word of God will be driven from men and trampled under foot. John 
in the Revelations, 11th chapter, 4th verse, tells us that the two witnesses are 
the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth. Now it is very 
plain that the two witnesses are the Old and New Testaments. In the 5th verse 
he says that if any man willeth to hurt them, fire proceedelh out of their mouth 
and devoureth their enemies. God, by his word, can destroy the wicked by- 
fire or by any other element that be hath made. In the 6th verse, the witness 
has power to shut up the clouds of heaven, that it rain not in the days of their 
prophecy, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. Thus 
God in his word reserves the power to treat both the righteous and wicked ac- 
cording to their deserts and at whatsoever time it pl«ase him. In the 7th verse 
he tells us that when they shall have finished their testimony the beast that 



24 

ariseth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome? 
them and kill them, and their dead bodies shall lie in the streets of the great 
city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord \va» 
crucified. As we said before, men will grow so wicked until the last three 
years and a half of the beast's time that they will trample the word of God un- 
der their feet, and at the same time will kill all those that adhere thereto, and 
will not allow their bodies to be put into graves. This is the worst that the 
wicked can do to the righteous. The same spirit of wickedness that killed our 
Lord Jesus Christ will do as above to his servants at that time when wickedness 
is come to the full. This ends the beast's time that he had to continue ; : that 
is, at the end of 1960 the beast's time is up. Now is the time that the seven 
vials of God's wrath are to begin : see Revelations, chapter 16; and the two 1 
witnesses, that were killed, are come to life and taken up to heaven again y 
that is, the last rays of goodness were taken from the earth and nothing left 
them but the fearful judgment of an offended God and Saviour; for the same 
hour the vials of God's wrath are commenced, called a great earthquake, which 
is to overthrow the power of the wicked, and seven thousand out of eight thou* 
sand were killed, for that is the proportion which is left; for in that day seven 
women shall lay hold of one man, saying to him, we will eat our own bread 
and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name to take away our 
reproach. What reproach ? Because their husbands were so wicked that they 
were killed by the seven vials of God's wrath, poured out upon them. These 
vials will be poured out in the first forty days of 1961. Forty years were alot- 
ted for the vials pouring out, forty years were alotted for the flood of Noah and 
also for the ten plagues of Egypt. But as God tells us in his word} no fleah 
could live all that time, God in his mercy has shortened it to forty days. Peter 
tells us in his writings that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and & 
thousand years as one day, and if it is his pleasure to shorten those days, it is 
showing^ great mercy to man. The seven vials of God's wrath will break 
down the war power of all nations, and will rend the \ei\ of the hearts of the 
unbelieving Jews, and they will go quickly to the land of Canaan, and will 
build the city and temple of Jerusalem, and those that are left of the vials, thai 
are well disposed, will go with them, and will take hold of the skirts of him 
That is a Jew, and say to him, we will go with you, for the Lord is with yo% 
and they will carry the riches of the nations with them, and build again the city 
and temple, and have all ready for Christ's second coming, which will take 
place in the year 200 1 . So much for the inbringing of the Jews, tfhose 
women whose husbands were killed by the vials, will have children, and they 
being brought up in a wicked way themselves, will also bring up their chil- 
dren to follow the same path of wickedness; for a well known writer tells us 
that at that time menstruous women will bring forth monsters ; that is, when they 
grow up they will be monsters of wickedness, and by the year 2001 they will 
be full grown men, and their mothers will instruct them that the Jews, after 
their fathers were killed of the vials, carried all their riches away to the land 



25 

of Canaan, and built with it the city and temple • and all nations will be en- 
raged against the Jews, and will combine together to go mp to the land of Ca- 
naan to take the spoil and prey, thus preparing the way for the battle of Arma- 
gedon, for all nations will collect their forces and provide with all things fit for 
the war. And when they meet the other armies of other nations, going on the 
same business, whom God is to raise up from the coasts of the earth as by a 
whirlwind, they will come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, that is in the land 
of Canaan, a very great army; for behind them they leave nothing but poverty 
and misery. The prophet says, with their tails they do hurt, and they climb 
upon the houses when the doors are shut against them, and go in at the win- 
dows and take what they want, and all are afraid of them, for behind them they 
leave nothing but distress, and before them all faces gather blackness with 
terror. And when the armies of nations meet at the valley of Jehoshaphat, 
the prophet tells us that they will be divided into three parts, and God will 
cause a tumult to be among them, and two parts are to fight against one part 
until it be consumed ; and then every man's hand is to be against his neigh- 
bor's until every one be killed, and until all their cattle and all their beasts of 
burden be killed, ior God has called by his angel all the fowls of heaven to 
the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of men and the flesh of horses and 
them that sit on them, and the spoil of them will fall into the hands of those 
that went up to build the temple. The prophet says that Judah will fight at 
Jerusalem. Christ came of the tribe of Judah and he will be iheir Captain, 
and they will pray to him for deliverance. As Jacob wrestled with the angel 
on the other side of the brook, and would not let him go until he blessed him, 
when his brother Esau was coming with a hostile army against him. By this 
means Jacob obtained through the blessing of God peace with his brother, so 
by their wrestling with God in prayer for their deliverance, God will destroy 
by the above means the formidable foe, and the spoil will be very great, for 
the wood of their carriages and implements of war will be fuel for the inhab- 
itants of the land for seven years, besides gold and silver in great abundance. 
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall appear the sign of the 
son of man in heaven ; this sign will be very uncommon lightning in the 
heavens, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn because these newly 
converted Jews will be sensible that it was the wickedness of their fcrefathers 
that put Christ to death, and called out to Pilate to c rucify him and let his blood 
be upon them and their children. This is a very great cause of mourning and 
they will mourn thirty days, every family being apart and their wives apart. 
When the children of Israel passed through the Red Sea and escaped from 
their enemies, the men, with Moses at their head, rejoiced, and the women, 
with Miriam at the head of the women, rejoiced, but in the above extraordinary 
event every family is to be apart. See Zechariah, 12th chapter, verses 10, 11, 
12, 13 and 14. David and those mentioned in the above verses is to show 
the manner of their mourning, and then they shall see the son of man coming 
in the clouds ef heaven with power and great glory, and his company will be 
4 



28 

m* hundred and forty-and-four thousand that he called from their graves after 
his resurrection, and went to heaven with him ; for they are his company that 
attend upon him wheresoever he goeth ; and he shall send his angel, with a- 
great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together, to the land of Cana- 
an, his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. See 
the manner of the resurrection in the 37th chapter of Ezekiel : every bone to 
his own bone, and they will be brought into their own land, the land of Israel. 
and will live and be with Christ their King one thousand years, and those that 
are left of the nations, that are not killed in the battle of Armagedon, are invi- 
ted in the 14th chapter of Zechariah, verses 16, 17, 18 and 19, to go up to Je- 
rusalem from year to year, and worship the king, the Lord of hosts, and keep 
the feast of the tabernacles. In those days the temple worship will be set up 
in its purity, for it has never been kept in purity by fallen man. But in those 
days, after they have suffered death, the penalty of the broken law of God, 
and have been redeemed and brought out of their graves by the power of our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, then they will be with Christ their King, and 
will keep the temple worship perfect. And in those days Christ will send fish- 
ers, that is, apostles, afar to the distant isles, to them that have not seen his 
glory, and they will bring them to the land of Israel, and present them to their 
King, as the children of Israel bringeth an offering in a clean vessel. Thus 
the apostles will be restored to thesame business as when Christ was with them 
before his death on the cross; for when he called them he told them he would 
make them fishers of men. In the 20th and 21st verses we are told that every 
thing in Jerusalem and Judah will be holiness to the Lord, and there shall be 
no idolatrous Cananite in the house of the Lord. After the Lord Jesus Christ 
comes to his kingdom, and the days of mourning are ended, the prophet Isaiah, 
in the 30th chapter and 26th verse, tells us that the light of the moon shall be 
as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be seven-fold ; that is, the 
seventh thousand year under Christ will have as much light as all the seven 
thousand years put together. If man had never sinned, he would have been 
enlightened with the glory of God without a cloud to stop the light. This the 
prophet is giving us to understand ; when Christ comes the second time, he 
will he that light, so bright on the seventh day, or seven thousandth year of 
the great week of this world's existence. This is the restoration of the right- 
eous to their original state before the fall. Now they have been redeemed by 
Jesus Christ from their graves, with a full pardon of all their sins, and brought 
into, perfect light again. John in his gospel tells us that his is the true light, 
that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; that is, alluding to the 
light of the understanding; and seeing the glory of God in Jesus Christ, the 
light will shine so bright on their hearts that they will be filled with all the 
fullness of Christ. In the 42d chapter of Isaiah, 4th and 5th verses, he tells 
«& tfyat the Lord delighteth in thee, and that the land shall be married, and as 
a. young man marr^eth a virgin, so shall the sons of the upright marry thee, 
aid as a bridegroom rejoioeti «v»r the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee. 



27 

lokft iii : 29 : He that hath the bride is the bridegroom, and thoa the church 
of Christ is in relation to a marriage, for Paul tells us that the woman is the 
glory of the man, and the man is the glory of God. This is a proper way to 
marry, to wait until God direct us. In the history of Isaac we have one exam- 
ple, and let us not forget that God gave Adam a wife of his own bone and his 
own flesh. Now if we were to look to these examples, God would give to 
every man his own wife, for it appears to me that there are many men who 
are living with women who are not their own wives. This is because man 
does not live according to the strict path of rectitude, but gets bewildered in a 
multitude of sins ; he knows not the right path. In the 6th chapter of Genesis 
it appears that men began to choose wives for themselves, and this was the 
beginning of the wickedness that brought on the flood of Noah j for the daugh- 
ters of men had borne children, giants, mighty men of renown — it appears that 
they were renowned for their wickedness. Nimrod was a mighty hunter be- 
fore the Lord, and he built the tower of Babel, that is, confusion, and it appears 
that this departing from the ways of God, and building up the world with chil- 
dren born according to the will of man, caused God to destroy all flesh from 
the earth, Noah and his family excepted, and Christ tells us in the 19th chap- 
ter of Matthew, 8th verse, that Moses, because of the hardness of their hearts, 
suffered them to have more wives than one j but from the beginning it was not 
so. So Adam and Eve fell from a state of holiness and happiness, because 
they trusted in themselves, and not in their Maker's directions. Likewise the 
people before the flood trusted to their own ways, and not to the God of heaven, 
and Noah's line has done the same thing, and it was never more practiced than 
at this day, for professors of religion think that they have a right to make their 
own rules in religious matters, and leave the instructions of the Lord Jesus 
Christ as a thing of naught. This is building up the Babel that leads to con- 
fusion, and at last to damnation, and the world generally think they are as good 
as their neighbors. But thanks be to the Lord Jesus Christ that there are a 
number on this earth who know better, and who look to the Lord Jesus Christ 
for directions in every thing that takes place, for every breath of our mouth, 
and for the bread that we eat, and for all the comforts of this life that we enjoy. 
All nature ought to bless and praise his holy name, for he can cause any of the 
elements that he has made to be a blessing or a curie, as it pleaseth him. Fee 
we art the made, He is the Maker. 



CONTENTS. 

Introduction. j On Election. 

..Daniels' Vision, Chapter VIII. On the Creation. 

/( Daniel's Vision, Chapter XI and XII. j Excommunication, 

John's Vision, Rev. Chap. XII and XIII. A letter. 

On Baptism. JThe New Jerusalem. 

The Witch of Endor. tMatthe w XVI, Chap . verses % 2, 3 and 4. 



Entered accorcing to the Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty- 
two, by James Grieve, in the Clerk's office of the District Court, in the 
District of Massachusetts. 



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